Expand engagement using ad extensions

Every day, people use search engines looking for answers that meet their intent, interest, location, moment, device and more. To respond to their behaviour and demand, Google Ads offers many ad extensions that provide a better user experience and encourage people to take action. These additions give the right information at the right time to the right user.

From all available ad extensions in your campaign, Google will show up to four, or a combination of some of them, appearing when it seems to improve the chances of user interaction. And of course, your campaign must have Ad Rank enough for it to appear.

Try to use at least three that make sense for your business, but as an ad can show a maximum of four ad extensions in an auction, Google recommends having four. Sitelinks, structured snippets, and callouts are considered universal extensions and they indicate for every campaign. Remember to keep them updated and always monitor their performance.

Google ad extensions available

Sitelinks

Additional links that appear just under the text of your search ads, directing users to specific pages of your website.

Benefits: increase the average clickthrough rate (CTR). More likelihood of conversions by sending the users to the right page. Easier management because you can apply on account, campaign or ad group level. Google shows only the relevant ones for each search term.
Why: link directly to specific pages, and they can provide the most marketing objectives if the site contains related content. Goals may include driving store sales, encourage online conversions or raising brand awareness.
Tips: Include as many sitelinks as you can, ideally 8 to 10 sitelinks per campaign, but not less than two, or the sitelinks won’t show. Link campaigns directly to popular or high-converting pages of your website. Be clear for users what to expect when setting the sitelink title and description.

Callout extensions

Short texts used to highlight information about valuable attributes of the business, products or services.

Benefits: in general, it adds about 10% in CTR. Powerful to highlight the unique values of your business in just 25 characters (12 for Chinese, Japanese and Korean).
Why: it’s very flexible and useful for many purposes, like drive sales with “Free pick up in-store”, increase conversion with “No cancellation fee”, or brand awareness with “organic material only”.
Tips: Keep callouts short and specific, and include at least six of them in your campaigns. Use callouts that are unique values of your business. Think like bullet points: “Vegan food” is sharper than “We serve vegan foods too”.

Structured snippets

Describes features of a specific product or service offered before users click on the ad.

Benefits: give specific information about what you’re offering before, and users will be more likely to convert after they click.
Why: great to highlight specific aspects of your products or services using options such as amenities, types or destinations.
Tips: use headers selected to provide information that’s useful and attractive, ideally four or at least two values. Values that apply to each header must make sense in the context of the chosen header. Avoid confusion, structured snippets highlight specific aspects of the products or services, while callouts highlight unique values of the whole business.

Location extensions

Show your business address, phone, and a map with your ad text. On mobile devices, there’s a link for map directions.

Benefits: help users find a nearby store to make purchases in person. When users buy online, they feel more confident knowing that there is a store close to them. On average, ads with location extensions have a 10% boost in CTR.
When: location extensions are great if you have local stores and want to encourage customer visits.
Tips: Location extensions work via Google My Business, so check if the information is updated there. Increase bid for users who are close to your stores to ensure they see your ad.

Affiliate location extensions

Available in select countries, these extensions allow manufacturers to drive visits to retail partners that sell their products. Alongside the manufacture’s ad, users can see the nearest retailer.

Benefits: drive consumers to the nearby retailer that sells your product. Give the option to visit the manufacturer’s website and purchase online if they don’t want to visit the retailer.
When: ideal for manufacturers to provide the option to visit their website and purchase online or in-person at retailers.
Tips: in the Google Ads, select retail chains or automotive dealerships to highlight all of the nearby locations where consumers can find your products. Set higher bids for users who are close to retailer locations to ensure they see your ad.

Call extensions

Extension format with a phone number, allowing mobile users to call your business directly.

Benefits: generate calls directly from your ads and provide convenience. Option to specify dates, days of the week or times of day that call extensions should be visible.
When: if you do business over the phone and value phone calls as much as you value clicks.
Tips: align the visible times with your business’ opening hours. Enable phone call conversions reporting to assess which campaigns, ad groups, and keywords are most active at driving calls. Make sure you have your staff trained to answer questions about the services or products that come from your ads.

App extensions

This extension gives you the opportunity of driving traffic to the app store.

Benefits: increase your app visibility and grow the installation base and drive traffic to your website in a single text ad.
When: the only way to guarantee an app impression based on a keyword
Tips: Don’t link your headline to the app store because this redundancy may create a confusing user experience. Don’t limit the extension to keywords oriented to driving mobile app downloads, since users still have the option to click through to the website.

Price extensions

Allow you to showcase your services and products alongside their prices.

Benefits: right customer expectations from the very first touchpoint. Available in several languages and currencies.
When: when you want to make it easier for people to compare their options and decide if they’re interested in your service or product.
Tips: Be granular and relevant to user queries. Don’t use the promotional phrases in descriptive lines. Don’t repeat headlines and description lines.

Promotion extensions

Promotion extensions show below your ads in an eye-catching format.

Benefits: let you quickly display information about your promotions without having to update every single ad.
When: great to highlight special offers and sales, including monetary or percentage discounts for your products or services.
Tips: select from a list of prepopulated occasions to have your promotion extension appear in bold. Set the date of the event, or specify the dates, days of the week, or times of day you want them to show.

Message extensions

Mobile-only format that enables clients to connect with a growing segment of users who prefer to text message.

Benefits: consumers can interact with your business on their terms. Give users the chance to ask questions, talk pricing, and engage. Keep the conversation going with multiple customers, each at your own pace.
When: you want to give customers an alternative to calling. Make sure you have a system ready to respond to messages.
Tips: have a clear call-to-action. Schedule your message extensions to show when someone is available to answer.

Enrich your text ads with ad extensions

Showing extra information about the business, increasing the likelihood of matching the user’s moment. As a result, announcements will be more relevant with a positive impact on your campaign’s Ad Rank and drive more qualified leads.

Every single query on Google reflects a specific consumer’s need wanting results that are appropriate to them. Using the right ad extensions improves user experiences and increases engagement. How can you extend your relevancy for them?